Manchester Food and Drink Festival will celebrate its 25th year in the city this September with a special roster of events, bringing together some of Manchester’s top chefs as it marks a quarter of a century in the city.
From a host of live fire pit feasts to a dedicated wine and fizz festival at NOMA, there are some exciting events on the horizon for this year’s festival, which will take place this September.
Today, the festival has announced its first wave of events as it prepares to bring its free-to-attend Festival Hub back to Cathedral Gardens.
Image: Supplied
Open from midday to 11.00pm across 15t–18 and 21–25 September, the Festival Hub will become home to an array of street food traders, bars, and artisan producers, as well as various masterclasses and takeovers.
As ever, the festival will bring together some of Manchester’s top eateries with appearances already confirmed from the likes of Michelin-trained Caroline Martins (The Sao Paulo Project), Northern Quarter favourite District, Tast, Mi and Pho, Fazenda, DGHNT and more.
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Elsewhere, there will be an artisan market overflowing with local produce, and a wide selection of local street food traders showcasing the best that Manchester has to offer.
BBQ fire pit feasts
The first ever Festival Fire Pit Takeover will be coming to the Hub for both long weekends.
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Sponsored by Weber, one of the world’s leading barbecue specialists, the Festival Fire Pit will invite some of the region’s best loved chefs to cook over fire for a first time festival feast.
Caroline Martins, founder of the Sao Paolo project, Robert Owen Brown and Francisco Martinez from Fazenda will all be bringing their own specialist BBQ flavours to the fire pit as part of Weber’s takeover.
The Festival Hub at Cathedral Garden will host the Octopus Cookbook Confidential demo kitchen on Saturday 24th September in collaboration with Octopus Books.
Top chefs and industry experts will be coming together to share their tips, ideas and knowledge in cookery demos, conversations and debate discussions. A full day of foodie demos and panels will include:
● Kate Humble & Lia Leendertz: The joy of the outdoors – Eating & Cooking with the Seasons
● Edd Kimber: Pudding Love! – discussing our love of puddings from childhood to becoming professionals and everything in between
● Pip Payne & Nicky Corbishley: Tips, ideas and hacks for putting dinner on the table every night without breaking the bank
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● Joe Woodhouse, Josh Katz & David Bez: From the swede to the courgette – why we should all be eating more veg and all the veggie inspiration you could hope for
● Jeremy Pang: School of Wok Chinese Cooking Demo
● Rahul Mandal: The Baking Surgery
● Jaega Wise vs Joel Harrison in conversation with Neil Ridley: Beer vs Cocktails
Some of Manchester’s best-loved chefs will also be joining the Festival Hub to lead cooking masterclasses on the opening weekend of the Festival – a detailed programme will be announced soon!
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Image: MFDF
Artisan food market
The much-anticipated Artisan Food Market will take place across the duration of the Festival, opening 15–18 and 22–25 September from midday to 7pm.
This free-to-attend market will showcase some of Manchester’s best food and drink producers, including New Market Dairy, The Flat Baker and DGHNT.
Beyond the Festival Hub
Away from the festival hub, an array of activities will be taking place across Manchester city centre.
MFDF will be the first event to take place at the iconic New Century in Manchester’s NOMA district to bring the Wine and Fizz Festival to town.
Opening in September, the Wine and Fizz Festival will be the first event to take place in the newly-restored space, giving wine lovers the chance to visit retailers like Cork of the North, Grape to Grain and UKiYO Republic (showcasing their wonderful range of Japanese sake). Tickets are available to buy here.
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Image: MFDF
Across the city for the duration of the festival, MFDF is also curating a lineup of fantastic restaurants to take part in their £25 for 25 years menu collaboration.
Northern Quarter favourite District will be creating an exclusive £25 drinks pairing menu to compliment their amazing Thai cuisine and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival.
Embankment Kitchen is also creating an exclusive £25 menu to give diners a taste of the best of their offering at a reduced price.
Other restaurants taking part include Mi and Pho with a Vietnamese take on the exclusive menu offer, as well as Three Little Words, Shoryu Ramen, Tast and Society, with many more to be announced over the coming weeks.
Feature image – MFDF
News
Super League ‘Rivals Round’ fixtures confirmed, with two big North West clashes
Danny Jones
The Betfred Super League (BSL) ‘Rivals Round’ games for 2026 have been confirmed, with two big regional clashes coming in time for the spring.
Returning for 2026, the annual meeting of multiple teams coming up against their fiercest and most historic rivals will land on round seven of the calendar over the traditional Easter weekend.
Despite the competition having sadly lost Salford Red Devils following their forced relegation, local rugby fans will still be glad to see the borough of Wigan, as well as neighbouring Cheshire and nearby Merseyside clubs, coming up against each other in what is a highly anticipated fixture on the calendar.
Announcing the now fully confirmed matches this week, the total of seven matches are set to be played between Friday, 3 April and the following Sunday, 5 April.
In the Super League’s own words, there are few gameweeks more box office than the Rivals Round – “where the games mean more, hit harder and have the ability to divide towns and families.”
After the inaugural edition of the modern round in 2021, this year saw the division record a best-ever attendance of 86,080 across a six-match period, and with an extra game being played next season, we’re expecting more ground to be broken.
“The most intense and historic rivalries will go head-to-head with huge crowds anticipated, emotions running high and everyone expected to bring their A game”, say the BSL.
Huddersfield Giants v York Knights – Saturday, 4 April
Castleford Tigers v Wakefield Trinity – Sunday, 5 April
One of the most notable exclusions among the slate, of course, is that of Salford Red Devils, as various players and staff members continue to leave the club during this increasingly concerning and deep period of uncertainty.
Salford supporters have given a clear response following the decisive drop in IMG gradings:
Although they are now longer in rugby league’s premier domestic tier, Salford are still expected to take part in the Challenge Cup tournament, which begins in January.
Betfred and the RFL revealed the most recent ties on Monday, 24 November, with the Devils due to face either Royal Navy Rugby or Hammersmith Hills Hoists in the second round.
Meanwhile, with the new campaign kicking off in February, rugby fans will only have to wait a couple of months to witness the upcoming instalments in the various rivalries.
Safe to say it’s going to be a spicy Easter break.
A Greater Manchester campaigner is calling on the government to get rid of VAT on energy bills
Danny Jones
With the colder months now well and truly upon us, a local campaigner is calling on the UK government to scrap VAT on energy bills across the country.
The nation is still in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, and besides grocery shopping, business rates and eating out still climbing, one of the biggest hits to the wallet continues to be at home, thanks to the cost of gas and electricity.
With that in mind, and as we approach the ever-challenging festive period when purse strings feel tighter than ever, industry expert and Bolton-born entrepreneur Corin Dalby is making a fresh push for crucial aid and urging Brits to put digital pen to paper.
Sharing the petition link on social media – which has been taken up by more than 42,000 people online – Dalby is asking others who believe domestic residents deserve a much-needed let-off to sign the Change.org document and help scrap VAT on energy bills in the UK.
Introducing himself and the idea in the description beneath the petition, the Greater Manchester native writes: “My name is Corin Dalby, and last year I successfully campaigned for hospices in the UK to receive an extra £100 million of government funding, with the support of 37,254 signatures.
“Now I’m calling on the Government to axe the 5% VAT we are all forced to pay on our energy bills.”
Dalby, 56, is the co-founder and CEO of non-profit energy company, Box Power CIC (community interest company), and has seen significant money from FCA fines go towards palliative care facilities since December last year.
Pointing out that the current energy secretary and former Prime Ministerial candidate, Ed Miliband, has previously hinted that his party would be open to this possibility, he goes on to add: “It’s vital that we hold them to this, to bring some much-needed relief to millions of households.”
While the initial goal aligned with the hope of getting enough signatures to put this bill forward in time for the most recent Labour budget (revealed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Wednesday, 26 November), the initiative could still provide vital support this winter – especially for those worst off.
As mentioned, the 2025 autumn statement has now been shared publicly following some early leaks, and despite including positives like a lift on minimum wage, as well as benefit increases, there have been much bigger reactions to aspects such as the hits being taken by pensioners and more.
The 2025 autumn budget has been largely underpinned by raising taxes by an estimated £26 billion.
If anything, the announcement has made the plea from Dalby and those in agreement more poignant than ever – and there are, indeed, plenty of people in his camp.
Sharing his most recent update back in October on social media, Corin said: “Overjoyed to see 20,000 signatures in just 3 hours.
“Scrapping the 5% VAT will directly save every hospice [an area he’s already successfully advocated for in the past], house and care home in the country, so who will help us to knock this out of the park and help the most vulnerable in our country and quickly smash 100,000?
“If you wish to help make a difference, please support this petition by just adding your name and [circulating] to like-minded contacts and repost this if possible.”
If you agree with the petition, you can sign via the official Change.org link right HERE.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd July 2022 
